The Old Folks Home

[chickadoodles]

Love that bread.

I will be back in the USA next week with durian, mango and pineapple jams.

I need some good bread.

Let me know if you have an extra pineapple jam.

 

[ozexpat]

It amazes me how October is molting season here in the Phil's. Just a few minutes less of light than July but enough to trigger a massive drop on egg count.

Our goats don't have a breeding season. They have kids any time of the year.

Yesterday was scorching hot yesterday with the sun out. Is back to overcast today.

I have just a few days left here then back to the USA. I am hoping the kids passports are available for pick up before I leave so I may start the process of getting their visas. It has been so great to spend so much time with them.

 

[ozexpat]

Let me know if you have an extra pineapple jam. 

I have plenty. My luggage will be about 50lbs of jams.

The durian is the best. The smell of the ripe fruit is godaweful but the jam is delicious

 

[chickadoodles]

Quote: If it smells bad I probably won't be able to get it into my mouth. lol I do love pineapple so much. What do you charge for a pint?

 

[Peep_Show]

Pretty hops!

Is Hugh Jackman or George Strait what's being had for dinner? (Yum to both)

Making good progress on the coop... Got the coop wrapped with sheathing and the windows in and framed. And while I was back there working on it I looked out into my apple orchard because one of the trees was shaking. "Man, that's a BIG squirrel!" Then I saw the blue pickup parked at the street. APPLE RUSTLERS!!!!!! And, no, it was not a "Gee, your apples looked so nice I just wanted to snack one." It was a manic pick as fast as you can to fill the 45-gal yard bag with these huge organic dessert apples. However, he very nice about being caught (it was later I realized I came out carrying a very BIG hammer). I found out he's a handyman for some folks on the hill....had a little talk with them later about their light-fingered help. This was not a streetside picking, either, as the tree in question is about 50 feet into the yard.
Court date on the 5th.

 

[drumstick diva]

Peep Show, I never can get over the nerve of some people. Surprised he didn't drive up with a cherry picker "borrowed" from some lineman stuck high up a post. Too bad Wolverine didn't tap him on the shoulder. Oops, I am fantasizing again!!

 

[LindaB220]

Case in point re: unabridged comes to mind was the coverage of Hurricane Katrina. It was SO white-washed and sanitized by the news media. Oh, look, people wading in the water and stranded at the SuperDome. It wasn't (for me, anyway) until Oprah did an expose and showed the dead bodies floating in the water and the horrendous filth that the impact of the weather event became apparent. I thought it was her best piece of journalism....hard and brutal facts. Then it degenerated into a celebrity helpfest, but at least help got there. (At the time, though, I was involved with Best Friends Animal Society and they were doing massive efforts on the abandoned pet front, so I had an inkling how dire it was in N.O. via the network. But -- reiterate -- national news sources dropped the ball on the serious coverage.)

Sometimes the kids need to get the bejeez scared out of them. It's called a reality check. Most of them are so absorbed in their own little universe that it's amazing how little they realize...or can comprehend. I'm talking teens now....not toddlers and preschoolers. I think they've listed the maturity age at -- what -- 25 or 26 now? That's when the boundaries set in and cognizance of one's place in time and space start to set in. Being forewarned is being forearmed, as they say.

(My sister's kids are so clueless that it's kind of the family joke.... Of course, my sister is oblivious to a lot of stuff. Perhaps the apple doesn't fall far from the tree)

I'm living in La and believe me when I say, nothing was whitewashed around here. We had it all on TV and talking to the local survivors. I was shocked that people even thought about going back. Yet, they did. The levies are still iffy and there will come a day.........

.

 

[LindaB220]

I imagine that composting here is different from there, but here, I use a technique that some call lasagna gardening. You decide where you want a planting bed, cover the existing grass, weeds, or soil with a layer of cardboard, then start adding layer after layer of materials. Mine usually consists of layers of leaves (fresh or dry, but chopped is better than whole) grass clippings (this layer must be thin as the thicker layers will mold and form a solid mass of powdery or slimy yuck) newspaper, pulled weeds, chicken manure and bedding, whatever you have or can collect. I also add a few shovel full's of compost from my working pile to jump start the process. It composts more efficiently if you layer green-brown-hot but I don't always do that and it still works, just takes longer. Once I have a 10-12 inch build up (or when company is expected,) I cover it with mulch and it will be ready to plant in a few months. I will add to one all summer, then plant it the following spring.

Those leaves will break down better if you chop them. I lay them out in a long strip as wide as our mower and run over them. It chops the leaves and bags them for me. There are also leaf vacuums that will do the same thing.

Click on above image to zoom.

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I really, really need this. I was talking about lasagna beds on another thread. I'm going to have my fellow that's building my coop to do me a couple raised beds about 20" high. . The bottom will have 6" logs sitting upright, then branches, and manure with leaves, dog hair, coffee grounds and compost on top. Hugelkultur. A LaHugel bed.

 

[Peep_Show]

Diva,

The really good apples were up high. Needless to say, they are now all harvested. Cider pressing this Sunday.

Like your fantasy. Frankly, I would've liked to have had the power to summon all the neighborhood coyotes for some rustler snacks.

"Aaaaahwoooo, yip yip. Rabbit buffet, too!"

 

[LindaB220]

truly wild how fast things change.

I remember talking to my great-grandmother....and how she remembered things. The super big deal about women being able to wear pants, and women riding astride.

My ex, MIL wore her first pair of slacks when she was 75 after her husband died. I never wore pants to school at all. Not allowed. Ladies only wear dresses at the knee. (this was when Twiggy was famous).